Great-West Life Health Insurance Reviews

This is the worst of the worst. Was put on short term disability for heart issue, doctor would not renew my licence and I drive truck for a living. Had to wait 7 1/2 weeks for first pay cheque, and was about 1/4 of what I made. The Evil witch that looked after my claim could not give a care of my condition, she told me that I was running out of short term disability and if I applied for long term disability I probably would not get it, because not being able to drive is not covered, and I live 50 miles from work.
I had several claims with this company, because the company I work for goes with GWL, and every time just very negative. One time had dentist work done and was in the dentist chair, and dentist was doing work on my teeth, they tried submitting claim to see if I would be covered, and GWL wanted to talk to me to ask me a bunch of personal questions to verify it was me, I felt like 2 inches tall. The only people I would recommend this company to is my enemy's.

They often drag out the claims process in an attempt to avoid paying out a claim, which often puts customers in a position of having to cover expenses while waiting for a claim to be approved. The agent said that they "getting tones of faxes".
Requiring excessive paperwork to cover simple drugs .
Not good value for money

My spouse added me to her company plan when I switched to self-employed. Since it was impossible to do so on her online account, we contacted them. I was added. When I attempted a dental claim, the dentist sent it in electronically as usual with my spouse's claims. It went through fine.

Two weeks later we hadn't seen the money. My spouse called and GWL said they had no record of me on her plan and we had to submit a manual paper form for the first claim. My dentist did so, with my spouse's signature and my info on it.

Another week passes, still no money. I finished my dental work, submitted a second claim, and this time it came back saying my coverage was terminated. We called GWL on the spot and the rep said my coverage still wasn't active because they required information such as my relation to her, how long we've been together, etc. We answered all questions and they said everything would be fine.

Three days later we got an email saying the first claim had gone through and money was on the way. About a half hour after that, GWL called to tell us that they required all the info we have given over the phone in writing or my claim wouldn't be active.

Not only are they providing muddy and confusing communications to their clients, it seems they are not communicating with each other. I would never pay for a plan with GWL out of my own pocket.

I have been had the great displeasure of having Great West be my health and dental provider for many years. This is the company my employer uses, so I am forced into using this very inefficient company. I have told them , if I could opt out I would have years ago. They constantly, lose receipts I send in, causing me to go back to the pharmacy or health practioner and request duplicate ones, don't pay claims they should, and now the topper for me, after having a drug paid for for ten years, decided maybe they will only pay a portion of it. They admit it was a mistake on their part but still are really putting me through the ringer, having me go back to my pharmacy for a third time over the same drug, to get old archived receipts. I have gone through numerous people at Great West, some very nice but with zero power to change anything, a very condescending supervisor, to one who is nice, understands my point of view, but blames the drug department for all the problems . This issue is still not resolved, this is a prescription I do not see going off of in the foreseeable future, so I continue doing battle to have it paid. I am at the point where I am starting to think they are just trying to see if I will go away and forget about the whole thing. I am meticulous about checking my paper work and if I were not this way, I would be out hundreds of dollars. Others that I work with, don't have the time or the interest to check their payments and I dare say, Great West is making tons of money of people like these. Very inefficient company, my next step is to go to the Ombudsman for this company. Really disgusting that this company gets richer by stealing from the benefits of hard working people. Shameful. If you have a choice in your provider, don't go here, you'll be sorry.

Is this company using dental fee guides from the 80s?? It sure seems that way. I’m supposed to have 90% dental coverage, but when I actually go to the dentist it only works out to about 70% because great West Life uses their own fee guide. So they’ve decided that cleaning should cost a certain amount when in reality in 2020 it costs far more. It’s cheap, underhanded business practices. They are nowhere near the provincial feed guide estimated for dental services whether standard or extensive. And that’s only the basic procedures, if you need anything more than basic they only cover 50%. Or well, 50% of what they “think“ the procedure should cost. So you’re getting screwed and then screwed again. Trying to get through on the phone to ask them which fee guide they use is impossible, I just gave up after a 45-minute wait with no answer. If I could scrub the planet of slimy insurance companies and start it fresh with honest ones, I would.

Most claims you submit will be rejected. I purchased a CPAP machine from CPAP clinic store GWL has refused to pay me back due conflicts between GWL and Cpap clinic stores. Why do I have to pay from my own pocket when I have coverages. The need to resolve their issues between by themselves. Many more bad reviews to come due to several issues I got many hours of frustration dealing with them. I would love to give them zero stars but it wasn't an option.

For years I had severe anxiety problems and was unable to find the root cause for it. Recently I have been diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, doctor recommended me to buy a CPAP machine and to be honest it changed my life! The best of it is I don't need to take medication for the anxiety anymore, sleep apnea was the root cause for my anxiety! Turns out that the (not so) Great West refuse to pay for the CPAP machine which is priced at 1700$ because for them I am not sick enough (i have moderate Sleep Apnea), they reimburse me over 1000$ per year for anxiety pills but they won't pay a dime for the real solution to the problem which is Sleep Apnea.

This is the worst insurance provider, always making an excuse not to pay any type of claim. Another insurer already pays the CPAP machine for my sleep apnea which is $2016 and they just need to pay the remaining wich is $504 still they declined to pay it, shame on you Great-West Life. Another insurer paid it without any question. Great-West Life is the terrible and worst insurance company ever.

They take months to approve something that you are entitled to receive. You have to be persistent otherwise they won't pay anything. My husband works with another insurance company and comparing with this one is away better, they are faster and they don't play games like great west. Really bad company!

This 'company' is a complete and utter farce run by callous individuals. Their policies are a joke, leaving you with little-to-no coverage. There are numerous occasions where I am reimbursed $2, $4, $5 as a result of how they run the numbers. I am inclined to call it a scam, but somehow these sneaky crooks play by their fine print rules and get away with it. I advise anyone of good ethical character to steer clear from any involvement with this 'company'.